Push-Up Exercise

The Push Up (also known as a press up) is a classic body weight exercise for the upper body. There are many variations of the push up exercise - here is a general description of the push up, with a few other variations described below.

Equipment Required: depending on the variation, you may need raised blocks, a wall, the Perfect Pushup.

Basic Technique

The starting position is facing down with weight distributed on the hands and feet. The body is rigid and straight, and the hands are usually placed approximately shoulder width apart (the plank position).

Lower your body until your chest nears the floor at the bottom of the movement, and then return up to the starting position. This is one repetition

Remember to move in a nice fluid motion, keeping the core muscle groups activated. Breathe out on the way down, and breathe in as you come back up.

Push Up Alternatives

Increasing Difficulty

With small changes to the standard technique it is possible to easily increase the difficulty of this exercise.

Try elevating your feet by placing the toes of your feet on a stable, elevated surface such as a bench, chair or a step.

Moving your hands wider apart or closer together changes the degree of difficulty and stresses different muscle groups. Also performing the push up on a soft surface like at the beach can further activate the shoulder muscles and give a better workout.

Add a clap (or two!) at the top of each push up movement. You will need a powerful push off to give you some air time to do the clap

The Bench Press exercise utilizes similar muscles as the push up, though you are able to greatly increase the intensity. See also the Dumbbell Press

Reducing Difficulty

For less difficulty, you need to reduce the weight going through the hands.

The traditional way to reduce the effort of a push up is to do what is called a woman's pushup, with the knees touching the ground.

You can achieve reduced weight through the hands by having the body in a positive incline. You can do this by placing the hands on an elevated block such as in the Home Push Up. Other exercises with a greater body incline include the Incline Beach Push-Up and the Beach Wall Press and pregnancy Wall Press.

An easy press up type exercise can be performed by selecting a very low weight for the Bench Press